Swimming apparatus

ABSTRACT

A swimming apparatus that permits an individual with a laryngectomy to be able to swim. The apparatus comprises a mouthpiece, a throat sealing member and an air tube intercoupling the mouthpiece and sealing member. The sealing member is securely disposed to cover and seal about the throat stoma while having an opening to permit air passage to the throat. The mouthpiece is controlled by the swimmer as a valve to control airflow through the unobstructed air tube.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates in general to a swimming apparatus, andmore particularly to a swimming apparatus particularly adapted for useby an individual with a laryngectomy so as to enable that person toswim.

An individual that has had a laryngectomy is not able to enjoy swimmingan other water activities because of the absence of control of air flowthrough the throat stoma. It is very unsafe to attempt swimmingparticularly where water can easily enter through the throat stoma.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide anapparatus which will permit an individual with a laryngectomy to be ableto swim safely.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a swimmingapparatus in accordance with the preceding object and which iscomfortable to wear, easy to attach to the swimmer, and adaptable foruse by swimmers of virtually any age.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

To accomplish the foregoing and other objects of this invention there isprovided a swimming apparatus which is used to enable a person having alaryngectomy or the like to swim safely. This apparatus comprises anelongated unobstructed air tube, a mouthpiece means at one end of theair tube having an air passage communicating with the air tube to enableair passage between the air tube and the persons mouth and a relativelyflat sealing member having means forming a water tight seal about thethroat stoma. The sealing member also has an air passage and means areprovided securing the other end of the air tube to the sealing memberenabling air passage between the air tube and the persons throat. Ameans is provided for holding the sealing member in good sealingrelationship to the throat about the throat stoma whereby the person cancontrol air flow in alternate directions corresponding to inhalation andexhalation through the air tube by interaction of the mouth andmouthpiece. This interaction of the mouth and mouthpiece essentiallyforms a valve for controlling air flow via the air tube during bothinhalation and exhalation. In one embodiment described herein themouthpiece includes a vent adapted to be blocked and unblocked byinteraction of the mouth with the vent to control air flow and alsoselectably block air flow to enable the swimmer to hold his or herbreath. The air tube is described as either having a circular crosssection and being in the form of a plastic tube or could be a moreflexible tube such as one having a pleated configuration. Also, it ispreferred that the sealing member be contoured to fit to the personsthroat. A throat mold could be made so that the sealing member ispersonally fitted to the person that will be using it. The means forforming a water tight seal about the throat stoma may comprise a sealingridge which is disposed about the periphery of the throat stoma. Themeans for holding the sealing member preferably includes a straparrangement including in one embodiment a neck strap and associatedfastener and in another embodiment both neck and arm straps. The armstraps have been found to be of advantage in that with the neck strapalone the sealing member may tend to ride up and thus the sealing memberis more positively positioned by means of both a neck strap and armstrap.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Numerous other objects, features and advantages of the invention shouldnow become apparent upon the reading of the following detaileddescription taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings inwhich:

FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of the present invention as positionedon a user;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 2--2 of FIG. 1 showingthe air passage communication between throat and mouth;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary view showing the mouthpiece;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary view showing the sealing member and associatedstrap;

FIG. 5 is a rear view of the sealing member showing the means forfacilitating sealing to the throat about the throat stoma;

FIG. 6 is a front view of an alternate embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 7 is a rear view of the embodiment of FIG. 6 showing the rear straparrangement;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing the mouthpiece and the sealingmember and associated straps;

FIG. 9 shows a further detail on the inside of the sealing member;

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 10--10 of FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 11--11 of FIG. 9;

FIG. 12 is a front view of still another embodiment of the inventionemploying a different strap configuration; and

FIG. 13 is a rear view of the strap arrangement of FIG. 12.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The swimming apparatus of the present invention enables a person havinghad a laryngectomy to be able to swim. A first embodiment of theinvention is shown in FIGS. 1-5, a second embodiment in FIGS. 6-11 andan alternate strap arrangement in FIGS. 12 and 13.

The first embodiment in FIGS. 1-5 shows the swimming apparatus inoperative position on the person. This apparatus comprises a mouthpiece10, an elongated unobstructed air tube 12, and a flat sealing member 14.The mouthpiece 10 has an innerside 16 and an outer flange plate 18. Theplate 18 is adapted to fit between the mouth and the teeth in the normalmanner of a mouthpiece. Extending through the mouthpiece is a passage 20forming a vent which can be covered and uncovered by the tongue tocontrol air flow therethrough into and out of the mouth. Adjacent to thepassage 20 is another passage 22 having at its outer end a circularflange 24 adapted to receive the end 12A of the air tube 12, as clearlydepicted in FIG. 3.

As indicated in FIG. 5, the sealing member 14 has a series of circularsealing ridges 28. There is also provided a hole 30 at the center of thesealing member 14 and having on the outer side thereof a circular flange32 adapted to receive the other end 12B of the unobstructed air tube 12,as depicted in FIG. 4. The ends 12A and 12B of the tube 12 may besecured to the respective mouthpiece and sealing member by an adhesivematerial or some type of a clamp could be used. Also, vaseline may beused on the throat facing surface of the sealing member to provide agood seal against the throat with the passage 30, properly in line withthe throat stoma 36.

The sealing member is held in tight relationship to the throat about thethroat stoma by means of a strap 38 secured at ends 38A and 38B to thesealing member. The strap 38 also has a fastening means such as themeans 40 shown in FIG. 4.

In the embodiment of FIGS. 1-5 during inhalation air passes through thevent 20 into the mouth where it is conveyed by the air tube to thethroat stoma. In order to provide proper air passage and to preventwater from entering the throat stoma the strap holds the sealing membertight against the throat and the sealing ridges assist in providing awater tight seal. The breath may be held by sealing the vent 20 to holdthe air in the lungs. Exhalation occurs through the air tube into themouth and out of the vent 20.

In accordance with the invention the mouthpiece may be replaced by anose piece in which case the breathing is controlled through the noserather than the mouth. However, the mouthpiece version is preferred.

A second embodiment of the invention is shown in FIGS. 6-11 including apreferred strap construction. The apparatus comprises a mouthpiece 41,and elongated unobstructed tube 42, and molded sealing member 44. Inthis embodiment the air tube 42 has a pleated construction to enhanceflexibility. In this embodiment the sealing member 44 is constructedpreferably of a silicone (RTV) rubber and is molded to the configurationof the person. In this way the sealing member will fit tightly againstthe throat in alignment with the throat stoma. FIGS. 10 and 11 show theend 42A which is a straight end section, embedded within a passage inthe sealing member 44. This provides a passage 48 that is adapted to bein line with the throat stoma 50. This embodiment also has a sealingridge 52 about its perimeter as depicted in FIG. 9. Vaseline or the likelubricant may also be employed between the sealing member 44 and thethroat surface. Also, a resilient rubber-like material may be used as aseal secured to the inner surface of the sealing member and disposedbetween the sealing member and the throat. Again, the purpose of anylubricant or resilient material along with the ridge 52 is to provide awater tight seal about the throat stoma. By contouring the inner surfaceof the sealing member to match that of the person's throat this alsoassures a water tight seal. The sealing member is held in place by meansof a main strap comprising strap pieces 54 and 56 each having respectiveVelcro ends 55 and 57 to form a fastening means for the upper strap.There are also provided secured from the upper strap, lower straps 60and 62 adapted to be placed under the arms as clearly depicted in FIGS.6 and 7.

The throat stoma is generally located at a low position on the neck andthus with the use of only an upper strap, the sealing member may tend toride up the throat and not properly provide a water tight seal. However,with the use of the two lower straps 60 and 62 there is sufficientdownward force on the upper strap to maintain the sealing member inproper alignment with the throat stoma.

FIGS. 12 and 13 show respective front and rear views of a person withthe swimming apparatus of this invention in a slightly differentembodiment. In this version the mouthpiece, air tube and sealing membermay be identical to that shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. Thus, as indicated inFIG. 12, there is shown the mouthpiece 41 interconnected by the air tube42 to the sealing member 44. In this embodiment there are provided apair of criss-cross straps 70 and 72. Each of these straps connect atone end to the sealing member 44 and extend downwardly under the armpitand crossing to the other side of the body in the rear as shown in FIG.13 to pass over the shoulder near the neck for fastening to an oppositeside of the sealing member 44. Each of these straps may be providedwith, for example, a Velcro fastener shown in FIG. 12 as fasteners 71and 73 associated respectively with the straps 70 and 72.

With regard to the first embodiment described herein, it is noted that avent 20 is used. In the latter two embodiments, no vent is provided butinstead the mouth can be parted from the mouthpiece to enable air toenter and leave the mouth.

Having described a limited number of embodiments of this invention, itshould now be apparent to those skilled in the art that numerous otherembodiments are contemplated as falling within the scope of thisinvention. For example, the mouthpiece may be substituted in anotherembodiment by a nose piece. Also, the mouthpiece may be simply formed bythe end of the air tube rather than the special construction ofmouthpiece particularly described herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A swimming apparatus used to enable a personhaving a laryngectomy or the like to safely swim, said apparatuscomprising; an elongated unobstructed air tube, a mouthpiece means atone end of the air tube having an air passage communicating with the airtube to enable air passage between the air tube and person's mouth, arelatively flat sealing member having means forming a water tight sealabout the throat stoma, said tube and said sealing member being absentof any structure to intrude into the throat stoma, said sealing memberalso having an air passage, means securing the other end of the air tubeto the sealing member enabling air passage between the air tube andperson's throat, and means holding the sealing member in water tightsealing relationship to the throat about the throat stoma, said meansholding the sealing member comprising fastening means for holding thesealing member in a water tight position about the throat stoma andincluding means supplying some downward force for holding the sealingmember properly sealed, whereby the person controls air flow inalternate directions corresponding to inhalation and exhalation throughthe air tube by interaction of the mouth and mouthpiece.
 2. A swimmingapparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said air tube is a circularcross-section plastic tube.
 3. A swimming apparatus as set forth inclaim 1 wherein said air tube has a pleated configuration to enhance itsflexibility.
 4. A swimming apparatus as set forth in claim 1 whereinsaid sealing member is molded to the contour of the person's throat. 5.A swimming apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said means forminga water tight seal about the throat stoma comprises a sealing ridge. 6.A swimming apparatus as set forth in claim 5 wherein said ridge isdisposed about the periphery of the throat stoma.
 7. A swimmingapparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said means holding the sealingmember includes strap means.
 8. A swimming apparatus as set forth inclaim 7 wherein said strap means includes a neck strap and associatedfastener.
 9. A swimming apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein thewater tight seal is provided only between the sealing member and theouter surface of the throat about the throat stoma.
 10. A swimmingapparatus as set forth in claim 1 and further including a resilient,rubber-like material employed as a seal secured to the inner surface ofthe sealing member and disposed between the sealing member and thethroat.
 11. A swimming apparatus used to enable a person having alaryngectomy or the like to safely swim, said apparatus comprising; anelongated unobstructed air tube, a mouthpiece means at one end of theair tube having an air passage communicating with the air tube to enableair passage between the air tube and the person's mouth, said mouthpieceblocking substantially the whole mouth but including a vent adapted tobe blocked and unblocked by interaction of the tongue with the vent tocontrol air flow and also selectively block air flow as in holding thebreath, a relatively flat sealing member having means forming a watertight seal about the throat stoma, said sealing member also having anair passage, means securing the other end of the air tube to the sealingmember enabling air passage between the air tube and person's throat,and means holding the sealing member in sealing relationship to thethroat about the throat stoma, whereby the person controls air flow inalternate directions corresponding to inhalation and exhalation throughthe air tube by interaction of the mouth and mouthpiece.
 12. A swimmingapparatus used to enable a person having a laryngectomy or the like tosafely swim, said apparatus comprising; an elongated unobstructed airtube, a mouthpiece means at one end of the air tube having an airpassage communicating with the air tube to enable air passage betweenthe air tube and person's mouth, a relatively flat sealing member havingmeans forming a water tight seal about the throat stoma, said sealingmember also having an air passage, means securing the other end of theair tube to the sealing member enabling air passage between the air tubeand person's throat, and means holding the sealing member in sealingrelationship to the throat about the throat stoma, whereby the personcontrols air flow in alternate directions corresponding to inhalationand exhalation through the air tube by interaction of the mouth andmouthpiece, said means for holding the sealing member including strapmeans, said strap means including a neck strap and associated fastener,and a second strap under the arm and coupled to the sealing member.